“You good?” Dave called to her from a distance. He pointed to the path. “There’s something I need to take care of before the kids take off.”
“Yeah, go,” Alice yelled. “You have most of the stuff anyway,” she said, referring to the fact that he carried the bulk of the archery equipment in two nylon sacks slung over his shoulders. She waved at his departing figure and scanned the edge of the field. In the distant woods, she noticed movement. A figure emerged from the tree line.
She remained still, wariness growing in her as Sal Rigo approached. What had made her bodyguard leave the shadows and seek her out?
“What is it?” she asked when Rigo was close enough for her to see the way the sun turned his graying blond crew cut into a pale silvery gold.
“Mr. Fall has asked that I take you all the way up to the castle.”
“Why?” Alice demanded. “We weren’t supposed to meet for another half hour.”
“He didn’t say why, I’m sorry.”
It must be important, for Dylan to break protocol like this.
“If you’ll follow me?” Rigo asked, his manner stiff and formal. “We’ll stick to the woods as much as we can.”
She fell into step beside him. They entered the woods a moment later, taking a worn foot trail Alice had never noticed before. It struck her that Rigo and Peterson, her two assigned guards, must really know these woods and grounds like the back of their hands if they did surveillance in them.
“This must be weird for you,” Alice said as they crossed under the canopy of the trees.
“What?” Rigo asked, turning his chin over his shoulder to see her. The path wasn’t large enough for them to walk side by side.
“Hanging out with me, when you’re so used to slinking around in the shadows.”
He faced forward again, his stride never breaking. “I’m just doing my job, ma’am.”
“Did you already know the layout of these woods? Before you came to Camp Durand to . . . you know. Follow me?”
“My job is to watch over you as best I can while the camp is under way,” he corrected shortly. “And the answer is yes. A few of us who work in Durand security are trained for the estate. We provide security during a lot of company functions here. We need to know every square inch of the property.”
“Do you like it?” He turned his chin over his shoulder again. “Your job. Do you like working in Durand security?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Not very chatty, are you?” she said under her breath, jogging to keep up with his long-legged pace. He must have noticed, because he slowed.
“It’s a good company. Mr. Fall is a good boss, even though he’s not my direct boss.”
“Kehoe is, right?”
“Mr. Hintzen is my department head. Mr. Kehoe is only my supervisor while I’m here at camp.”
“When Dylan isn’t overriding his orders?” Rigo gave her an impassive glance over his shoulder that seemed like an affirmation. “You don’t like him, do you?”
“Who?”
“Kehoe,” Alice said breathlessly as they emerged from the woods into the sunny meadow.
“It’s not my place to like or dislike him.”
“You don’t.”
She assumed she was right when he didn’t argue.
She was curious about the man who had been lurking around all this time, watching her. He seemed to shy away from questions about his assigned mission, though. Undeterred, she jogged up next to him.
“What do you think of Bang?”
He looked a little startled.
“What do I think of bang?”
“Yeah. You know, the goat from Camp Wildwood. Do you think Kehoe will come down hard on kids if they sneak over there?”
“Why are you asking me?”
“Because you’re a Camp Durand manager in addition to watching over me. You hang around Kehoe and the others all the time. You must have some inside scoop.”
He seemed to consider this for a moment as they walked.
“No. Mr. Kehoe has a pretty tolerant attitude about it. Kids have been stealing and returning that statue for years.”
“That’s what I thought,” Alice said as they entered the woods again. A moment later, they broke the tree line and trudged up the steep slope of the side yard of the castle.
He halted at the edge of the stone terrace and nodded toward the patio doors. “They’re open. He’s in the den.”
“Thanks. Nice getting to know you,” she added drolly, because getting to know Rigo was like familiarizing yourself with a walking rock.
“You aren’t easy to guard,” he stated bluntly.
“I’ll try to be easier, now that we’re such good friends.”
“Don’t be too easy. You’re observant. Quick. Those aren’t things you should change.”
Maybe she was wrong about the rock thing, because the stone gave her a small smile before he turned away.
*
ALICE pulled up short ten feet away from Dylan’s den when the door whipped open. Thad stalked out, looking tense and preoccupied. He halted upon seeing her, seeming as startled as she was.
“Alice.”
“Thad. What are you doing here?”